Catherine Faimon
Publisher

MELVERN—For the second consecutive year, Daniel Jensen, a home-schooled eighth-grader from Burlingame, has won the Osage County Spelling Bee. Jensen out-spelled 14 co-competitors from eight schools Friday at the Marais des Cygnes Valley High School gym, when he stood up at the microphone and spelled words correctly through seven rounds. The winning word, “mischief,” came after three rounds going head-to-head with eventual runner-up, Samantha Volkman, a fifth grade student at MdCV.

Jensen and Volkman will compete in the regional spelling bee March 15 in Topeka.

“It was a word I already knew,” Daniel said, when asked what he thought when he heard the word “mischief.” He won last year’s county spelling bee by correctly spelling words such as “chrysanthemum” and in the championship round, “impromptu.” The word “epiphany” was one he spelled at the regional bee in Topeka.

Shortly before the contest, MdCV High School Principal Steve Burkdoll welcomed participants and family members in the audience. Next, Bev Burkdoll explained changes to the spelling bee rules. A practice round was next, with students spelling words such as quest, bevy, lyrics, lynx and shrew.

Round one eliminated six students, followed by five more in round two. By the third round, four students remained. One missed the word “heifer” and three students remained.

Round four eliminated one more, with the word “thermometer.” Jensen and Volkman correctly spelled “magnitude” and “mammoth,” respectively, in round five. Each misspelled a word in round six, “galloping” and “repetition.”

Each was given another word to correctly spell, “analogy” for Jensen and “recommend” for Volkman, which she missed.

To clinch the win, Jensen then correctly spelled “mischief.”

Part of Jensen’s curriculum includes a Greek and Latin vocabulary course, which he said helps prepare him. He also practices words found on a Scripps Web site. He is a member of Arrow Home School in Lyndon. Jensen is also involved with a youth group at Overbrook Bible Church and participates in Tai Kwon Do. He enjoys writing and aspires to be a novelist.

Besides Jensen and Volkman, other contestants were Skylar Farwell, 7th grade, and Dominic Crook, 8th grade, from Lyndon; Lakin Thompson, 8th grade, and Boone Dodson, 4th grade, from Burlingame; Kaana Watchman, 8th grade, and Danielle Davenport, 8th grade, from Osage City; Mary Warner, 7th grade, MdCV; Kayli Tucker, 6th grade, and Chase Wechsler, 8th grade, Overbrook; Nathan Forbes, 8th grade, and Kelsey Watts, 6th grade, from Carbondale; Brian Hawkins, 4th grade, and Tambour Jamison, 5th grade, from Scranton.

This year’s reader was Anna Bradley. Judges were Kathy Cope, Ruby Garard and Bev Burkdoll.